At the time of his retirement, Carey was one of the two senior referees in the NFL, along with Walt Coleman. Carey was promoted in 1995 when the league added the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars and thus needed an extra officiating crew to handle up to 15 games per weekend instead of 14, which had been the case between 1976 and 1994.

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Carey attended and later graduated from Santa Clara University in 1971 with a bachelor's degree in biology.[1] While at SCU, he played running back for four years until an ankle injury ended his playing career.[1] The injury continues to impact Carey today as it limits his running ability.[3] He only allows himself to run on days he is scheduled to officiate games.[3]

Mike and Wendy Carey founded Seirus Innovation, a privately held company that manufactures ski and snowboarding gloves, face protection, and other cold-weather accessories,[1][3] in 1979.[8] In September 2007, Mike Carey was named Chairman of the Board for SnowSports Industries America (SIA).[8] As chair, his goal is to "get the suppliers, retailers, reps, media and resorts to come together as one community and work together, then we can create synergy to help strengthen the snow sports industry as a whole."[8]

Carey is an inventor who owns or shares eight ski apparel patents, including "Cat Tracks," a device which he created at age 30 to slip over the sole of a ski boot to provide increased traction when walking.[3]

Carey was hired by the NFL in 1990 as a side judge, before being promoted to referee for the start of the 1995 NFL season.[3] He became the second African American referee in NFL history after Johnny Grier in 1988.[1] In addition to being selected as referee in Super Bowl XLII, he served as an alternate for Super Bowl XXXVI.[9] In addition to the Super Bowl, he has officiated two conference championship games, four divisional playoffs, and eight wild card games throughout his career as of the conclusion of the 2007-08 NFL playoffs.[6]

NFL referee Mike Carey
December 16, 2006

In an interview in August 2014,[10] it was revealed that Carey had requested that the NFL not assign him to games featuring the Washington Redskins. A search of game logs revealed Carey had not worked a preseason or regular season game involving the Redskins since the opening week of the 2006 season.

The following week of the 2005 regular season on October 9, 2005, Carey was involved in a game between the Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lions, which featured a pair of ejections and 21 penalties for the Ravens. In the third quarter with Detroit possession from Baltimore's 6 yard line, Terrell Suggs was penalized for roughing Detroit quarterbackJoey Harrington following an incomplete pass. Suggs then quickly approached Mike Carey to argue the call and was immediately ejected from the game. After the game, Carey spoke to reporters and said, "He bumped me with malice in his heart and he was gone. He said a number of things to me."[11]

Two months later at the start of overtime during a game between the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers in December 2005, Carey was unable to locate a coin to use for the coin toss. He had given his coin to a child, who served as the Packers' honorary captain, at the game's opening kickoff. The field judge was able to supply Carey with a penny.[12]

Carey was the referee during a 2005-06 playoff game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Washington Redskins. At the conclusion of a play during this game, Redskins safetySean Taylor spat in the face of Buccaneers running backMichael Pittman. Pittman retaliated with a slap to Taylor's helmet. Carey could be heard through a live microphone immediately ejecting Taylor from the game. Head linesman Steve Stelljes conferred with Carey over Pittman's actions, but Carey decided not to penalize Pittman for his retaliation. When questioned about taking no action against Pittman by Redskins players, Carey said in response to being spat upon, "What would you do?" Mike Pereira, the vice president of officiating, approved of Carey's handling of the incident saying that "offsetting personal fouls would not have been appropriate". Pereira added, "If anybody didn't eject somebody for spitting in somebody's face, I'd be disappointed."[13]

Nearly two years later, Carey was named referee of Super Bowl XLII. On working the NFL's championship game, Carey said it was a "personal honor" and understood the historical significance of being the first African American referee. On the significance of the event, he said it was a "great sign of the evolution of our society that all barriers are eroding".[14] During the fourth quarter, Carey's judgment was a factor in one of the important plays of the game. On third down, with just over a minute left in regulation, New York Giants quarterbackEli Manning received the snap in a shotgun formation and looked to pass the ball. New England Patriots defenders Richard Seymour, Jarvis Green, and Adalius Thomas grabbed and attempted to tackle Manning. Manning escaped the two defenders and threw a 32-yard pass to wide receiverDavid Tyree. Under NFL rules, officials are required to stop play when a player is "in the grasp and control" of the defense. Carey determined that "grasp and control" was never achieved since Manning's forward momentum did not stop. Speaking about the play, Carey said, "I anticipated a sack. I didn't assume that was going to happen, but rarely do you see a quarterback escape when he's got that much weight on his back and being dragged by two or three guys who had a hold of him. I could see [Manning's] head was just straight ahead. He was trying to break free with desperation. Then all of a sudden he spun out and then he started to come right back at me."[15]

On June 24, 2014, Carey resigned from the NFL and joined CBS Sports as an analyst for its Thursday night and Sunday broadcasts. He provided rules analysis, interpretation and rules explanations from the game site, as well as the NFL Network's studios in Culver City, California on Thursdays and from The NFL Today set in New York on Sunday.[16][17] Carey's contract was not renewed after the 2015 season, after several on-air mistakes regarding calls.[18]

Carey was replaced as referee by first-year NFL official Brad Allen.[19]